Las Vegas NowDomestic partnership law advocates gear up for Nevada governor's veto
Associated Press - May 21, 2009 8:55 PM ET
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Advocates of a domestic partnership bill that may be vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons are seeking support for a possible override vote by lawmakers, circulating a favorable letter from Harrah's Entertainment - and even an old letter from Gibbons.
The Harrah's letter, from executive Jan Jones, states that SB283 is needed to help foster the perception "that our state is a fair place for business and leisure travel."
Jones said that Harrah's has targeted the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for years, adding that it has an estimated $700 billion in buying power. She added the Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Authority markets to the same community.
Proponents of SB283 also circulated a 1993 letter from Gibbons, then a state Assembly member, to the editor of a gay newspaper, stating that Gibbons had decided to support elimination of an anti-sodomy law.
In the letter, Gibbons said his decision "should in no way be taken as support for homosexual conduct but rather 1 of great deference to our Constitution and for the humane and equal treatment of all mankind."
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